By Daniel Tapia, Mar. 6, 2022
On March 4, the Broncos, 6-7, welcomed the Chico State Wildcats, 11-2, in their 2022 California Collegiate Athletic Association home opener at Scolinos Field.
The series was scheduled for four games, but with harsh weather on Saturday, only one game of the double header was played, making it a three-game series.
The Broncos shut out Chico State in game one by a final score of 14-0. Making his third start of the season, pitcher Will Rudy was dominant, facing the minimum batters over eight innings. Rudy allowed zero runs, one hit and forced 12 strikeouts.
“I felt like every pitch was working for me,” said Rudy. “Being able to get ahead of counts and locating my pitches worked effectively.”
The Broncos jumped on the board quickly when left fielder Ricky Nuñez singled in catcher Johnny Pappas. Two batters later with bases loaded, right fielder Cesar Lopez roped a base-clearing double into right center field. Third baseman Tyler Chaffee then singled up the middle scoring Cesar Lopez, giving the Broncos an early 5-0 lead.
The scoring would continue in the third with a lead-off double from shortstop Nick Lugo. Seconds later, Chaffee blasted a two-run home run into left field. After consecutive errors from the Wildcats, the Broncos were able to add another run to extend their lead to 8-0.
In the fifth inning, Nuñez hit a solo shot, making it 9-0.
Head coach Randy Betten was pleased the offensive performance his team displayed.
“We had a good offensive plan today,” said Betten. “I saw aggressiveness, players attacking the zone and attacking good pitches.”
Through five innings, Rudy had retired 15 straight working his way to what could be a no-hitter. In the sixth inning, Chico State was able to grab their first hit off Rudy, but that would not faze him as he struck out the next batter and got out the inning with a groundout double play.
After grabbing another three runs in the seventh inning, Betten had to make the decision whether he wanted to send Rudy to pitch into the eighth at 97 pitches.
“I felt good,” said Rudy. “I was cruising through seventh and wanted to get through the eighth to help our bullpen out.”
That was exactly what he did. Rudy got out of the eighth, retiring all three batters faced.
“He’s growing up; he’s matured now,” said Betten. “His hard work has paid off and it’s executing in game. I’m excited to see him grow.”
The Broncos would finish their scoring rampage in the eighth after second basemen Ryon Knowles hit a two-run moonshot over the right field wall.
“We had a big lead, so I was just looking to do some damage and have fun,” said Knowles. “It was a 3-1 count. I was sitting fastball and put a good swing on it.”
Pitcher AJ Moreno would replace Rudy in the ninth inning, concluding the shutout. The Broncos would take game one by a final score of 14-0.
The series continued Saturday afternoon in what was a wet first half of the game. Pitcher Rhys Stevens made his fourth start of the season in hopes of improving his overall record to 2-2.
Stevens would get off to a rough start giving up a homerun to the first batter faced. He was able to get out of the inning only surrendering one. Stevens found himself in some trouble once again after giving up another two runs to the Wildcats; they now led 3-0.
“Three runs doesn’t faze me,” said Stevens. “I want to be able to compete for my team and give us a chance to win. That’s what I did. I kept it close, gave us a chance to win and luckily, we came through.”
The Broncos had multiple chances early on to try and get on the board but failed to do so. In the fourth inning, designated hitter Jacob Lopez and right fielder Cesar Lopez got on base with consecutive singles. Lugo would then reach on an error loading the bases with zero outs. However, the next three batters would go down in consecutive order.
CPP would threaten again in the fifth with runners on second and third but had nothing to show for it.
Stevens was able to settle down after the third, allowing zero hits and zero runs through the rest of his start. Multiple times through the game, Stevens tried to light a spark under his teammates as they struggled to score runs.
“I come off the mound screaming, doing the crazy stuff that I do,” said Stevens. “It gives them energy. I just try and give them energy to go into the next inning and hope to score some runs for me.”
Chico State would keep a 3-0 lead up until the eighth inning when the Broncos came up to bat.
CPP finally broke through in a big way. Lugo would single to start off the inning, followed by a walk and wild pitch to Chaffee putting runners on third and second for center fielder Luke Watson. Watson came up clutch with a two-RBI triple cutting the Wildcats lead down to one.
“I was trying to look for something over the plate, staying in a good approach,” said Watson. “Luckily, I got a fastball over the plate and hit it hard.”
This led to a pitching change from the Wildcats, but it did not make much of a difference as Watson would come into score from a sacrifice fly from Knowles that tied the game up at 3-3.
Still in the eighth with two outs and a runner on first, Nuñez, who has a homerun in three of the last four games, stepped up to the plate. After going down in the count, Nuñez smoked a no-doubter into left field that gave his team a 5-3 lead.
“Luke stepped up big for us and I wanted to do the same for my team,” said Nuñez. “I was ready to hit something, I didn’t want to miss a pitch. He threw a mistake and I hit it.”
With a 5-3 lead, pitcher Eric Romo came in to replace Stevens who ended his night throwing eight innings, allowing two hits, three runs and 11 strikeouts. Romo would retire the Wildcats easily, collecting his second save of the season leaving the Broncos up 2-0 in the series.
In the final game of the series, pitcher Scott Armstrong would get the start in hopes of completing the series sweep over the Wildcats.
Armstrong worked through the first with ease, but it was not long until the Wildcats started connecting on hits.
Chico State combined for 10 runs within the first three innings giving them an early 10-0 lead. The Broncos got one of those runs back in the fifth off an RBI double from catcher Johnny Pappas.
CPP would continue to fight as they had a big seventh inning of their own. The Broncos loaded the bases for designated hitter Chris Aguilar. Aguilar came through with an RBI single followed by another RBI single by right fielder Carl Lawson. Chaffee capped off the inning with a bases clearing RBI double to make the game 10-6 in favor of the Wildcats.
In the ninth inning, Chico State grabbed three insurance runs giving them a comfortable 13-6 lead. The Broncos would answer back off another RBI double by Chaffee and a two-run double from first baseman AJ Nimeh.
However, that was not enough as the Broncos dropped the final game of the series with a final score of 13-9.
CPP will hit the road as they travel to CSU Monterey Bay for a four-game series beginning March 11. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Featured photo courtesy of Carlos Leano.